COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — A joint committee on Property Tax Review and Reform at the Ohio Statehouse released its more than 800-page report on Thursday, six months later than it was originally scheduled to come out.
The committee met eight times throughout the first five months of 2024 to hear testimony from nearly 50 interested parties. This committee was started after lawmakers on both sides of the aisle said they heard growing concerns from their constituents about being taxed out of their homes.
Though the report is 865 pages long, most of it is testimony. The first 31 pages talk about the history of property taxes, previously passed legislation, and provides context for the committee’s findings.
“The goal of the commission was to identify a number of different ideas that would lead to a much fairer and simpler property tax system in Ohio. And we worked very, very diligently to do that,” Rep. Bill Roemer (R-Richfield), co-chairman of the committee, said. “We want to look at overhauling the system, increasing transparency, because right now, very, very few people know really where their property taxes are going.”
After that come 21 recommendations – two and a half pages worth – from the committee.
“What the report does is highlight a tremendous number of recommendations that we believe will make property taxes more efficient and manageable for our constituents,” Roemer said. While Roemer said a “significant amount,” of Democratic members’ requests also made it into the report, some said it is not enough.
After that come 21 recommendations – two and a half pages worth – from the committee.
“What the report does is highlight a tremendous number of recommendations that we believe will make property taxes more efficient and manageable for our constituents,” Rep. Bill Roemer (R-Richfield), co-chairman of the committee, said.
“This report only had final input from the majority members on the committee,” committee member Rep. Bride Rose Sweeney (D-Cleveland) said. “It is possible that we will be looking at writing our own minority report because like many things in life, there are some good things, some bad things and some things missing within that [report].”
This report does not actually provide tax relief; instead, it offers possible solutions for lawmakers to pursue. Many of the ideas have already been introduced, but Republican leadership of the last general assembly said they were waiting for the report to come out before taking any action despite nearly two dozen bills — some of which were bipartisan and in the list of recommendations — being introduced throughout the past two years.
Some of the recommendations include:
- “The Ohio General Assembly should consider expanding the traditional Homestead Exemption and an enhanced exemption for disabled veterans including a means-tested increase in the benefit.”
The homestead exemption was expanded in the state budget at the start of 2023. Since then, several more bills have been introduced to continue that work, which did not ultimately pass, including House Bill 274, which was just one vote away from the governor’s desk.
- “The Ohio General Assembly should consider increasing the number of public meetings required to be held by a taxing authority prior to levying a tax to promote transparency to taxpayers.”
- “The Ohio General Assembly should consider authorizing a property tax circuit breaker as proposed in Senate Bill 271 and other bills pending before the Ohio General Assembly.”
Senate Bill 271 is a bipartisan bill that failed to make it across the finish line before the end of 2024.
- “The Ohio General Assembly should consider eliminating replacement tax levies.”
A Republican-led bill to eliminate replacement tax levies was introduced and ultimately failed in the 135th General Assembly.
Roemer pointed out a recommendation that reads “temporarily revising the Sexennial Reappraisal and Triennial Update schedule so that there are an equal number of counties or parcels being reassessed each year.” He said while it is a small change, it could end up having a large impact.
“Right now, well over half of the properties are on one cycle in the state of Ohio,” he said. “We think you get a more accurate and more reasonable reappraisal when it’s balanced throughout the state. So, it’s things like that that aren’t going to be huge headlines. But in totality, these recommendations provide a lot of positive motion toward better property tax policy in Ohio.”
But Sweeney said her priority is the circuit-breaker legislation, to allow the state to pick up some of the slack for homeowners who cannot pay the full amount of their property taxes.
“This is something that we see in red states, blue states, and it’s just making sure that nobody’s basically being taxed out of their house,” Sweeney said.
The circuit breaker recommendation would cost the state, in an estimate by the Ohio Legislative Service Commission, just under $1 billion. Roemer said while the idea is good in theory, whether the state has the money will be a big factor.
“The issue always, though, is who pays for this? And as we’ve said, property taxes raised billions and billions of dollars across the state of Ohio. And the expectation is that the budget this year is not going to be as rich as it has been in the past,” he said. “I don’t believe the general assembly is going to have the flexibility it did in the past when we set billions of dollars of tax reductions.”
“The reason why we are going into a tighter budget was because of decisions made by this body to put us into this position. And those decisions can be unmade,” Sweeney said about the last general assembly’s $90 billion budget. “It’s about priorities and who we want to put first. Do we want to put the regular Ohioan first or do you want to keep working for special interest? The money is there and if it’s not, it’s because the majority party has decided not to.”
Another recommendation said, “The Ohio General Assembly should consider adopting a property tax deferral program for homeowners.” Roemer said while methodology needs to be figured out, this recommendation essentially would create a program where Ohioans are means and age-tested, and then will be able to defer some of their taxes.
“And at some future time, it would be recouped by the state when the taxpayer’s home was sold,” he said. “So that way, taxpayers could stay in their homes and pay minimal to no interest on their property taxes.”
As for when this will get done? Roemer said many provisions will likely end up in the state budget, which typically passes in late June.
“[We will have] many standalone pieces of legislation and as you know, our Ways and Means Committee in the House works really, really hard,” he said. “We’ll try to get through those so that they have public hearings and are vetted and then if the speaker and the president choose to put those in the budget, that historical context and vetting has already been done.”
Sweeney said while she is “hopeful that this is a positive step,” she encourages every Ohioan to keep calling their legislator and demand change.
“This isn’t a new problem per se,” she said. “We’re just seeing the result of a legislature that has continued to kick the can down the road. High property taxes are a choice, and it’s a choice solely been made by the majority party in Columbus and what’s giving me such hope is that the solutions that help most people do have bipartisan support. What we need is the actual courage to do it.”
Ohio lawmakers and new leadership will be sworn in on Jan. 6. Lawmakers will need to introduce any property tax bill from scratch this year.
The full report from the Property Tax Review and Reform Committee can be read below.